A total
period of 15 minutes is allocated for members of the public to make
a statement(s) on any matter that falls within the remit of the
Committee.

Individual members of the
public may speak for up to 5 minutes, but the Chairman will decide
how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be
apportioned, where there are a number of speakers

Minutes:

There were no members of the public present
who wished to address the Committee.

Karen Carsberg
attended the meeting and gave a presentation on the Council’s
Housing Strategy which was currently in its public consultation
period.

Karen explained that
the process to produce the strategy had started with a number of
consultation events in 2010.

The strategy set out
the vision and priorities for housing between 2011 and 2016.

The Council’s
vision stated that housing supported the creation of balanced and
sustainable communities in Cheshire East, where all residents could
achieve independent living in good quality affordable homes that
were appropriate to their needs.

The strategy had the
following 5 priorities:

lDelivering market and affordable housing

lMaking the best use of our existing stock

lMeeting the needs of our most vulnerable
residents

lMeeting the needs of an ageing population

lInvesting in our neighbourhoods

Karen explained that
the Council was facing a serious shortfall in affordable housing
provision, as a significant proportion of houses in Cheshire east
were unaffordable for first time buyers due to the level of deposit
required by lenders. There was also a shortage of both private and
social rented accommodation with 80% of Cheshire of Cheshire East
housing stock being in owner occupation.

Karen
also reported upon the Council’s policy to bring back into
use the 3000 properties known to be empty in the Borough. The
Council ultimately had enforcement powers to bring them back into
use. However, the Council had developed a toolkit for landlords
which provided a range of solutions to avoid the enforcement
route.

In
response to a question about how the Council engaged with landlords
who were not based in the Borough, Karen explained that the Council
supported two very active land lord forums split between North and
South of the Borough.

In
response to a further question regarding what partnership
arrangements existed in Cheshire East with Social Housing
providers, Karen explained that all the key agencies were brought
together on a regular basis (Chesire
East Strategic Housing delivery group) and through the Local Area
Partnerships (LAP’s) and that specifically within the
Congleton LAP, there existed a separate Housing
sub-group.

In
response to a question regarding powers available to the Council to
protect affordable housing schemes, Karen explained that through
section 106 agreements, affordable housing could be preserved in
perpetuity as affordable housing. However, in some cases, owners
had the ability to ‘staircase out’, potentially having
the ability to own 100% of the property.

A
definition of affordable homes could be found in Planning Policy
Statement 3(PPS3) which
stated that affordable housing should:

meet the needs of eligible households including
availability at a cost low enough for them to afford, determined
with regard to local incomes and local house prices, include
provision for the home to remain at an affordable price for future
eligible households or, if these restrictions are lifted, for the
subsidy to be recycled for alternative affordable housing
provision.

Nic Abbott Cheshire Homechoice team leader
attended the meeting and provided a presentation on the review of
Council’s Housing allocations policy, Cheshire Homechoice.
The Committee also considered a report of the Head of Planning and
Policy.

Cheshire Home choice was the Choice based
lettings partnership between Cheshire East Council and the
registered providers of Social Housing in Cheshire East. Cheshire
homechoice was launched in April 2010 and was a partnership between
Cheshire East Council, Cheshire peaks and Plains, Plus Dane and
Wulvern.

Cheshire Home choice had been operating
effectively for 12 months. However there were some areas of the
allocations policy that needed improving or reviewing in light of
lessons learned and in preparation for changes anticipated through
the Localism Bill.

Nic reported that there had been very few
formal complaints received from customers, and those that had been
received related to procedural matters rather than policy.

Nic explained that
the process should be completed by January 2012 and
would include:

lUndergoing consultation with customers based on
their opinions on Housing priorities

lWorking closely with partners to resolve some of the
issues identified

lConducting an event with Members of the Council and
Partner Board members to further consult on the process

lTaking guidance from Support Agencies and
Customers

lTesting the policy to try to identify any
errors

lRe-registering & re-assessing all applications
to avoid duplication and further complication for
customers

In response to a query about how the policy
reflected the needs of young people particularly former cared after
children who were seeking accommodation, Nic explained that such
individuals were given a high welfare banding in the allocations
policy and the Council worked very closely with Children’s
Services, and Members of the Corporate parenting Board.

Karen Carsberg explained the background of the Home Improvement
Agencies which provided services to older or
disabled that lacked either the financial capacity or personal
resources to organise home repairs or adaptations themselves in order to retain independent
living.

The role of a Home Improvement
Agency was:

lProvide support to assist vulnerable people through
the complex process of home repairs and adaptations.

lHelping people to find ways to pay for the repairs
and adaptations, including applying for disabled facilities grants,
home repair loans and equity release products

lProviding technical advice on the options available
and producing architectural drawings and specifications, and
assisting people through the planning and building regulations
application processes

lAssisting people to employ reputable contractors and
carrying out quality checks on the work

lSignposting and referrals to other services to help
the vulnerable person address other housing related issues that are
affecting their ability to continue living independently in their
own home.

Karen explained that the
Council currently supported 3 HIA’s which were:

·In-house by the Strategic Housing division of
Planning and Housing – for Congleton;

Mears, a national
social housing repairs and domiciliary care provider – for
Crewe & Nantwich; and

Regenda, a registered
housing provider – for Macclesfield.

The Council had undertaken a
review of HIA’s in 2010, which highlighted the need for a
single HIA. The Council had therefore embarked upon a procurement
process which had culminated in 3 tenders being received to provide
the Council with a home improvement agency service. In August,
Cabinet would be asked to decide which of the tenders it preferred
and would therefore be asked to provide the service in
house.

RESOLVED - That the
presentation be received and Karen
Carsberg be requested to provide a copy of the report scheduled to
go to Cabinet in August 2011 to Members of this Committee at the
time of publication.

The Chairman to give an oral progress report
following the comments made by the Committee on the item regarding
Options for Revised Public Transport Criteria at the meeting held
on 21 June 2011.

Minutes:

The Chairman informed the
Committee that all Members of the Committee had received by email a
copy of the revised transport criteria which took account of the
Comments made at the previous meeting of the Committee held
on 21 June 2011.

The Committee sought further
information about whether any of the ‘Safer routes to
school’ would be affected by changes to bus route support
resulting from the new public transport criteria

RESOLVED– That Chris Williams Transport Manager be
requested to clarify whether the revised criteria will have any
impact on safer routes to schools.